


Moist

by Rocky_T



Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: F/M, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-01 07:47:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20811578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rocky_T/pseuds/Rocky_T
Summary: The captainreallydoesn't like sonic showers.





	Moist

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place during the sixth season, sometime after “Ashes to Ashes”  
Full blame, er, credit goes to Seema and Zakhad for this one. Many thanks to Seema for the beta.

Janeway leaned over the tub and turned on the hot water. A good long soak at the end of the day was among the privileges of being captain, and after days like this one, when their endless journey through the Delta Quadrant – not to mention her intrepid crew - seemed to get on her last nerve, thoughts of her bath were all that got her through her duty shift. She considered her bottles of bath oil, chose the jasmine-rose one, and poured in a generous amount. Leaving the water running, she exited the bathroom.

She sat down on the edge of the bed to remove her boots and socks. She took off her jacket, gave it a cursory sniff, and then stuffed it in the recycler, followed by the rest of her uniform. After laying out her favorite pink silk robe, she stripped off her underwear and padded naked into the bathroom.

She breathed in the scented steam rising in clouds and frowned. The smell seemed a little – off. She sat down on the edge of the tub, preparatory to swinging her legs in and promptly screamed.

The tub was filled with a black liquid whose appearance was reminiscent of an oil slick.

Instinctively, Janeway slapped her bare chest where her comm badge normally resided. “Janeway to Engineering!” At the lack of a response, she realized her mistake and strode angrily into the bedroom. “Computer, contact Lieutenant Torres.” She barely remembered in time to add, “Audio only.”

“Torres here,” came the reply. “What can I do for you, Captain?”

“I’m having a problem with the plumbing in my quarters,” Janeway replied, striving to keep her voice level though every inch of her jangled nervous system wanted to scream. “Please send one of your engineers to look at it at your earliest opportunity.”

“I’m on it, Captain,” B’Elanna said. “We’ll be there in a few minutes.”

When the door signal sounded a few moments later, Janeway hastily snatched up her robe. “Enter!” she called as she finished tying the belt.

“There was no need for you to come yourself, B’Elanna,” Janeway said, though she was pleased to see her Chief Engineer took her concerns seriously.

“It was no trouble at all,” B’Elanna said. “After the recent issues with your replicator, I decided it would be best to nip the problem in the bud before it gets worse.” Janeway flushed at the reference to her replicator. Truth be told, she _had_ tried to repair it herself when it had first started malfunctioning, and she had been at first mystified and then chagrined when her efforts to fix it proved to be fruitless – and in fact the problem had grown progressively worse until she’d had to call in reinforcements.

Perhaps realizing her mistake in bringing up that subject, B’Elanna turned hastily to the crewman she’d brought with her. “Ensign Dorfman is our resident expert in sonic showers, Captain. He’ll have you fixed up in a jiffy.”

“It’s not the sonic shower,” Janeway said. “Let me show you.” She led the way to the bathroom.

B’Elanna whistled at the sight of the black liquid which had filled the tub and was continuing to flow over the sides. “Maybe go a little bit easier on the bath lotion next time?”

Janeway hastily turned off the water and tried to ignore the slimy feel of the liquid on her feet and ankles. “It’s not the bath lotion that’s the problem. It’s the water – why is it black?”

Dorfman, who had been hesitantly holding back from invading the captain’s inner sanctum, ran a quick scan. “This isn’t water; this is cooking grease.”  
“Cooking grease?” B’Elanna and Janeway said in unison.

“According to my tricorder, this liquid is composed primarily of fatty acids, sterols and other lipids, plus some elemental carbon. The proportions exactly match those of cooking grease.” Dorfman closed his tricorder. “I’d hazard a guess that this is coming from the sludge tanks where Neelix stores the used oil before disposing of it.”

“Actually, we don’t dispose of it but reduce it to its essential elements and then recycle it,” B’Elanna added helpfully.

“What’s it doing coming out of my bathtub tap?” Janeway said indignantly.

Dorfman gave B’Elanna an entreating look before answering. “Uh, I don’t know. To my knowledge, the plumbing system and the waste disposal system in the Mess Hall are entirely separate entities.”

“We’ll take care of this immediately,” B’Elanna said. 

“See to it that you do,” Janeway said. “And now what am I supposed to do in the meantime?”

“Well, the first thing I’d do is drain the tub and give it a good scrub--” Dorfman broke off at the captain’s baleful glance. “Uh, until we get this fixed you can always just use the sonic shower.”

“Ensign Dorfman,” Janeway said, her voice dangerously low. “Look around this room. Do you see a sonic shower?”

“But every bathroom has one,” Dorfman said, his voice squeaking. “I mean, I guess you don’t, but really, that’s the norm.”

“He’s got a point,” B’Elanna said. “Why doesn’t this bathroom contain one?”

“I had it removed during the last _Voyager_ refit,” Janeway said. “Right before we were ordered to the Badlands.”

“Why?” B’Elanna asked curiously.

“Because I don’t like sonic showers,” Janeway said. “Aside from that high-pitched ringing in your ears, I just don’t feel like I can get clean without water.” She added, “No warm water running down your body in soothing rivulets of moisture, massaging and rubbing against your…” she hastily broke off the rest of her statement.

“Sonic showers are more efficient than hydro-showers,” Dorfman pointed out. “They’re also better for water conservation.”

“Thank you, Ensign,” Janeway said, a little more sharply than she’d intended. She ushered the two of them to her door. “I know you’ll have this fixed as soon as possible, but seriously, how am I supposed to function without plumbing?”

B’Elanna hesitated on the doorstep. “I guess you could ask someone if you can borrow their shower,” she said.

Janeway nodded, struck by a sudden idea. “Thanks, Lieutenant. That’s just what I’ll do.”  
***  
Chakotay had just finished putting away the contents of his medicine bundle and was thinking about having one last cup of tea before going to bed when his door signaled.

“Kathryn!” he exclaimed, surprised to see his captain standing before him clad only in a short silk robe, with clearly nothing on underneath it. “What are you doing here – I mean, what can I do for you?”

“You’ve got something I want,” she said, brushing past him as she entered his quarters. She took a few steps into the room and then stopped, clearly realizing that hadn’t come out the way she’d wanted. “That is, can I borrow your bathroom? There’s currently a problem with the plumbing in my quarters.”

“Certainly,” Chakotay said, quickly getting over his surprise. “Come right this way.”

He opened the bathroom door with a flourish. “My shower is yours.”

She wrinkled up her nose at the sight of the sonics mechanism. “Don’t you have a hydro-shower?”

“Well, yes, I do,” Chakotay said, nodding at the stall off to the side. “But no one uses hydro showers any more. Sonics are _so_ much more efficient.”

“So I’ve been told,” Janeway said, swinging the stall door open, “but I prefer--” She stopped short at the sight of the boxes that filled the stall from the floor to the ceiling.

“I’ve been using this space for storage,” he said unnecessarily. “Because no one uses--” He broke off. “Here, let me get these out of your way.”

Fifteen minutes later, the stall was empty. “There you go,” he said with a smile. “Can I get you anything else?”

“No, thank you,” she said and held up the bag she’d brought with her. “I’ve got a towel, soap, shampoo, and I’m all set.”

“Good,” he said.

“So you can leave the bathroom,” she said pointedly.

“Uh, right.” He quickly straightened up. “I’ll give you some privacy.”

“That would be most appreciated.”  
***  
Chakotay startled at the unfamiliar sound of running water, then relaxed as he realized it was coming from the hydro-shower. He chuckled at the memory of how single-minded Kathryn had been at gaining access to a _real_ shower. The grin lingered on his face as he envisioned her standing under the flowing streams, her neck arched as she gave herself up to the pleasures of the experience.

Twenty minutes later, his amusement gave way to concern. She’d been in there an awfully long time – how long did it take for one relatively diminutive human to get clean? He went over to the bathroom door and knocked. “Uh, is everything OK in there?”

There was no answer.

He tried again. Still no response.

A sudden frisson of worry ran down his spine. The water hookups hadn’t been used in a very long time – what if there was a problem with the temperature controls? He had a sudden vision of scalding water descending on his captain, incapacitating her while doing damage to her fragile skin. Or perhaps she’d slipped and banged her head, and was even now lying unconscious as the waters pounded her still form. He’d sworn to serve under Kathryn Janeway, and he owed it to her to make sure she was all right. His mind made up, he opened the door, squared his shoulders, and marched inside.

Scented clouds of steam billowed in the air; having used sonics for so long, he’d forgotten how the fragrance of shampoo rose in the air, mingling with the dampness. He glanced at the fog-proof stall doors and was relieved to see Kathryn standing upright, her arms above her head as she worked the rich lather into her hair. He meant to quietly back out, now that he’d seen that she was all right, but he stood still, transfixed by the sight of her.

Her eyes were closed, and an expression of pure bliss was on her face. The water cascaded down her body in long, slow streams, past glistening breasts, smooth belly and taut thighs. He found himself moving forward, unable to tear his eyes away from the vision she made…until her voice roused him from his reverie.

“Commander? What are you doing in here?!”

“Uh…” Chakotay found himself tongue-tied. How was he going to explain this? “I, uh, sorry, I didn’t mean to intrude, but I was concerned…you’d been inside so long that I wanted to make sure nothing had happened to you.” He winced as the words came out sounding even more lame than he’d anticipated. He tore his gaze from her body and cast a look around the room, then picked up her towel and proffered it.

She snatched it out of his hand and wrapped it around herself. “So you were just looking out for my best interest?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I see.” She took a step forward. He could see the water droplets gleaming on her skin, feel the warmth emanating from her. “You wanted to help.”

He nodded, suddenly bereft of the power of speech.

“I suppose,” she said in that low husky voice as she took another step toward him, “that I should be grateful I have such an officious first officer.” Her tongue darted out, moistening her lips. “On top of allowing me to use your shower in the first place.”

He nodded again.

“There’s something so soothing about a hydro-shower, washing away all one’s worries and cares,” she continued as she continued to advance. “And at the same time, something oddly stimulating…” 

He swallowed.

“Do you know what the best thing about a hydro-shower is?” she asked, barely inches away from him. “Unlike sonics, two people can use them at the same time.” Her voice dropped even lower. “Would you care to join me, Chakotay?”

He exhaled explosively. “Spirits, Kathryn, I thought you’d never ask.”

He undressed with alacrity. As she drew him back inside the stall with her, his last thought was he owed one to the engineering corps.


End file.
